Hold On Tightly
by anna-lightwood
Summary: It's 1903, and the Clave believes there are no new threats, but is that true? A shocking discovery leaves everyone feeling worried, and the clock is ticking. The stakes are the highest they've been as the Lightwoods, Herondales, Fairchilds, and Carstairs families race to save the Shadowhunters-but will they let themselves make the ultimate sacrifices or will love get in the way?


Oliver Cunningham is approached one frosty December night by a beautiful young woman who calls herself Grace, and asks him to accompany him to her house. He can't help but notice how pretty she is, and accepts almost immediately. At her house, he meets her mother, the formidable Tatiana Blackthorn, who is blunt and gets to the point. She needs him to follow five Shadowhunters three nights from now, and paint them. Then he will contact her, and Tatiana will come to collect the painting. She shows him instructions, and he hesitates. As a mundane with the sight, the most he does is acquire ingredients to warlocks spells. But Tatiana offers a hefty payment, and he agrees.

In three nights, he goes to the park Tatiana directed him to, and sure enough, there are Shadowhunters there, laughing and joking about the easy hunting that night. He peers at them-he counts six though, not five- and then starts to write notes on them.

When he gets to his apartment, Oliver looks at the notes that he took and sets to draw the young adults he just spied on. This whole ordeal makes him uneasy, but _that old woman is going to pay me handsomely_, he thinks, _just for this dumb job. That'll get me through college. _At last he stands up, content that he got the shade of blonde hair right on the eldest girl, the shocking clear green eyes of the second-oldest girl, the Cupid's-bow lip of the third girl, the tall and slim figure on her best friend, the brown umber hair color on the middle boy, and the high cheekbones of the youngest boy. He writes a letter to Tatiana, and in two days she comes with her daughter and a friend he's never met to look at the painting. The friend makes him uneasy, and the distrust deepens when Oliver notices that the friends eyes look like a cat's. Tatiana Blackthorn meanwhile is looking with approval at the painting. Her daughter Grace is looking at the youngest boy with interest, and he feels jealousy course through him- Grace is beautiful, after all.

"Look, Fade. These are the five Shadowhunters that you will capture for me. Except that boy." Tatiana says, pointing at the tall and slim boy. "Or kill him if he gets in your way. I don't really care. Do whatever you need, employ magic, kill people- just get those five Shadowhunters to me in two months time, alive and well. Although-," and her lip curls back in a sneer, "they'll be dead soon enough, after they give Jesse and I what we need. And you." Tatiana says twirling to look at Grace. "You will help the warlock, understand?" Grace's eyes flicker to the warlock's and she nods.

"Of course, Mother. You know I'll help you with whatever." Tatiana smiles, seemingly pleased. Oliver decides to speak up.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Blackthorn. But what exactly do you plan to do with the children?" Tatiana smiles at him indulgently.

"Wouldn't you like to know? But I don't think I'll tell you. Kill him, Fade. Mundanes who ask too much questions are of no use to me."

And the warlock steps right up, and pushes a knife into his chest. Oliver's eyes widen, and he falls to the floor, gasping. He looks up to see Grace's head turned away, Fade's eyes laughing, and Tatiana still smiling. She kneels down to him, smooths out the skirts of her faded and bloody dress, and grasps his face in her hand, forcing him to look at her.

"They are an ends to a mean for me, five useless Shadowhunters who will be dead in two months. They will bring my son back to life, give him his second breath of life with their dying ones. My five perfect, talented, _healthy,_" She spats that last word as if it is synonymous with _demonic_, "nieces and nephews. The Lightwoods- all a perfect family now." Tatiana snarls the last sentence. She stands up and puts her arm around Grace. Both of the women and Fade walk away, not one glancing back at him. And as Oliver Cunningham lays dying on his floor, he wishes desperately on the first star of the night, on an eyelash, on the clocks hands pointing to 11:11, that he can warn those young adults that their aunt is going to kill them.

**AN: I don't own _The Infernal Devices, _or _TLH_, but I do own Oliver and Fade! I think you can guess who five out of the six Shadowhunters are... but can you guess the sixth?**


End file.
